2026年8月19日 / 美国东部时间下午1:10 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作者：艾米莉·梅·查霍尔 新闻编辑
美国边境官员在一名女子因未到庭逮捕令被拦下后，注意到她车内一个移动的枕套，随后查获了一批濒危爬行动物。
来自墨西哥蒂华纳的66岁女子乔治娜·布里比斯卡·查韦斯本月早些时候因涉嫌参与一项长达数年的爬行动物走私计划，面临野生动物走私指控被捕。据美国加利福尼亚南区检察官办公室的一份新闻稿称，她据称与同案走私伙伴萨尔瓦多·佩拉约往返美国境内外运送外来爬行动物，佩拉约已于7月因一项类似的联邦指控被捕。
该办公室表示，查韦斯于8月10日试图从美国入境墨西哥时被捕。海关及边境保护局官员发现她有一项与野生动物走私调查相关的未到庭逮捕令，随即将查韦斯拘留并扣押了她的车辆。
据新闻稿称，次日搜查车辆时，官员们在其中一个后排座椅后方发现了一个隐藏隔间，里面装着几个系紧并用胶带封死的枕套。其中一个枕套看起来有动静，官员们将其送往圣地亚哥动物园进行检查。
动物园工作人员打开了枕套。里面共有60只阿沃尼亚蜥蜴、4条有毒的黄斑棕榈蝮蛇、3只凯门鳄、1只幼年鳄鱼和1只靛青蛇。其中多个物种被列为濒危或受保护物种，受到国际协定的保护。
涉案被盗外来爬行动物被藏在试图穿越美墨边境的车内枕套中。 美国加利福尼亚南区检察官办公室 供图
据美国检察官办公室透露，这3只凯门鳄在被送往圣地亚哥动物园接受救治前已经死亡。
“即便在被捕后，查韦斯也从未向海关及边境保护局官员提及车内的活体动物，让它们在圣伊西德罗的8月酷暑中被遗弃了近24小时，”新闻稿中写道。
官员们表示，其余所有获救爬行动物情况稳定，目前由圣地亚哥动物园照料。
“这些动物不是货物——它们是为了牟利而被置于危险环境中的活物，”美国检察官亚当·戈登在一份声明中说道。
据美国检察官办公室称，查韦斯本周二就走私指控首次出庭时拒不认罪。他们表示，其现年28岁的同案伙伴佩拉约也拒不认罪。
该办公室援引法庭文件称，查韦斯和佩拉约自2023年起开始向美国走私外来爬行动物，意图转售牟利。他们的活动促使美国鱼类和野生动物管理局对该涉嫌走私计划展开卧底调查，调查发现两人参与了多起受保护海龟的卧底销售交易。他们被控在圣地亚哥地区的多个货运中心收发野生动物。
当局指控查韦斯和佩拉约通过贩卖外来动物获利数万美元。
Moving pillowcase leads to discovery of venomous snakes, other reptiles hidden in car at border
August 19, 2026 / 1:10 PM EDT / CBS News
By Emily Mae Czachor News Editor
U.S. border agents found a collection of endangered reptiles when they noticed a pillowcase moving in a woman’s car after she was stopped at the border with Mexico due to an outstanding arrest warrant.
Georgina Bribiesca Chavez, 66, of Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested earlier this month on wildlife trafficking charges after allegedly participating in a yearslong reptile smuggling scheme. She is accused of bringing exotic reptiles into and out of the U.S. with her alleged trafficking partner, Salvador Pelayo, who was arrested in July on a federal charge similar to hers, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
Chavez was arrested while trying to cross the border from the U.S. into Mexico on Aug. 10, the office said. Realizing she had an outstanding arrest warrant related to a wildlife trafficking investigation, Customs and Border Protection officers took Chavez into custody and seized the vehicle.
As they searched the car the next day, officers discovered a hidden compartment behind one of its rear seats, which contained pillowcases that were tied and taped shut, according to the release. When one of the pillowcases appeared to move, the officers transferred them to the San Diego Zoo to be examined.
Staff at the zoo opened the pillowcases. Inside, they found 60 abronia lizards, four venomous yellow-blotched palm pit vipers, three caimans, one baby crocodile and one indigo snake. Several of those species are considered endangered or threatened, and are protected by international agreements.
Stolen exotic reptiles were found inside pillowcases in a car that was trying to cross the U.S. border into Mexico. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California
The three caimans died before they could receive care at the San Diego Zoo, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“Even after her arrest, Chavez never told CBP officers about the live animals in her car, leaving them abandoned for nearly 24 hours in the August heat in San Ysidro,” the news release said.
Officials said all of the other stolen reptiles were considered stable and under the care of the San Diego Zoo.
“These animals were not cargo — they were living creatures subjected to dangerous conditions for profit,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement.
During her first court appearance on the trafficking charges on Tuesday, Chavez pleaded not guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. They said her alleged partner, 28-year-old Pelayo, has also pleaded not guilty.
Citing court documents, the office said Chavez and Pelayo started trafficking exotic reptiles into the U.S. in 2023 with the intent to sell them. Their activity prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to open an undercover investigation into the alleged scheme, which found that the two were involved in multiple undercover sales of protected turtles. They are accused of sending and receiving wildlife at shipping centers in the San Diego area.
Authorities have alleged that Chavez and Pelayo made tens of thousands of dollars from the sales of exotic animals.
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